This proposal requests support for continuation of a training program which is currently in its fifth year and focuses on the biology of aging and/or age related diseases. Although the faculty trainers involved are from disparate academic homes within our University, each is recognized for excellence in research, and each is committed to examining questions related to biogerontology. The initial proposal funded four post-doctoral slots and the addition of three pre-doctoral slots. The rationale for this is based on the expanded growth of the biogerontology discipline on this campus. One of the four pre-doctoral slots will be dedicated to the MD/Ph.D. student, and the other three will be interdisciplinary programs relevant to gerontology (e.g., Cell and Molecular Biology, Nutritional Sciences.) Each trainee will be required to complete a minor in gerontology. The strengths of this training grant include the infrastructure provided by the UW Institute on Aging, an energetic and collegial faculty, and outstanding students. We have also developed a strategy to recruit minority students and post-doctoral fellows and a rigorous approach to exposure and discussion of issues in bioethics. Furthermore, the support of an MD/Ph.D. student may prove to be an excellent mechanism to recruit the brightest of our medical students into biogerontology or geriatric medicine.